Uncategorized

When Garmin introduced the GPS 175 (and ADS-B transponder-equipped GNX 375) budget IFR navigator earlier this year, we wondered why it didn’t have a comm radio. Then a couple months later, Garmin tossed the $6995 GNC 355 in the mix with, you guessed it, a built-in comm. That leaves no fewer than a half-dozen choices […]

As many as 680 Boeing 787 Dreamliners may be affected by the latest revelation involving manufacturing flaws in the jets. Boeing confirmed on Thursday that it was in contact with the FAA about out-of-spec gaps in the joints between fuselage parts. It was revealed on Thursday that the vertical stabilizer is affected by the potential […]

It’s raining. The “it” refers to the growling sky that hinted I should land, put the airplane away, and further discussion was pointless if not downright stupid. Although, the risk of appearing stupid has rarely dissuaded me from making the wrong stab at the Go/No-Go coin toss. Any pilot who ventures beyond the runup area […]

A couple of weeks ago we ran two stories that illustrate—well something—about the ways in which recreational aviation is being affected by COVID-19 in different countries. One story talked about the virtual lockdown of non-essential flying in the U.K., enabled largely by obliging weekend warriors, who complied with their government’s polite request to please hang […]

The value of aircraft deliveries in 2019 grew more than $2 billion with piston designs seeing the largest segment growth at 16.4 percent. In total, the industry delivered 1,324 piston aircraft in 2019, up from 1,137 last year, with bizjets seeing 15 percent growth, from 703 delivered in 2018 to 809 last year, the highest […]

After a cabin ground fire destroyed a first-generation Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet, the FAA issued emergency airworthiness directive AD 2020-03-50, which grounds the fleet of jets until faulty audio amplifier circuit cards are removed from the cabin.  In the aircraft that melted on the ramp, the FAA wrote in its AD that the pilot observed […]

Those dreaming of a Dreamliner for a $26 raffle ticket were brought back to earth on Friday when the Mexican government announced it will hang on to the presidential Boeing 787-8 for at least two more years. But it’s going ahead with the raffle to sell six million tickets at 500 pesos each and instead […]